Rave Run 5K: Race Recap

It finally happened, guys! That first 5K EVER that you guys saw me sign up for, talk about ad naseum, and flip my lid over – it’s come and gone and it was AH. MAZING. Seriously, you guys, I can’t think of a better race to cut my teeth on in terms of running, and I can safely say that not only will I be running more 5Ks in the future, but I’m actually really, REALLY excited to start pushing myself towards longer distances, pushing towards that half marathon! But enough of this philosophical nonsense – how about some race pics?

The whole event was, obvs, a night race, so the registration tables and race location opened at 6:30 that night for all those who were registering last minute (PRO tip: don’t do that. It’s awkward and takes forever. Because, you know, I’m a pro now and can give tips, lol). We got there at about 8:00, which gave us about an hour to stand around, stretch, drink water, use the bathroom, get our glow stuff ready to go, and of course take a ton of awkward cute pictures!

The race registration came with a necklace, bracelet, and glow glasses, but the Outlaw/Brown family don’t play that. My dad went to Party America earlier in the day and picked up a few more packets of glow bracelets/necklaces and it’s a good thing he did – even as blinged out as we were, there were definitely folks there who really made sure to prep for race day! The race itself had maybe…1,500 people running? I have no idea. I’m horrible at gestimating big numbers, and since the race was untimed and “non-competitive”, there isn’t even a stats list of all the runners. I took this picture of the crowd right before the start gate opened, and we were maybe 2/3 of the way back in the corral?

Either way, it seemed like there were enough people there that things had a good energy, but I didn’t notice any major hang ups. Let me tell you, if you’ve never run a race with other people before – LOOK WHERE YOU’RE GOING. I see a ton of legit runners giving advice about fueling, pacing, stretching, but no one seems to talk about one very basic but overlooked component – how to run in a crowd of people without tripping over your feet, theirs, or tripping them in the process. The only advice I have is short steps. Wait for the crowd to thin out. The race course itself, which I suppose I should talk about, was an out an back on the property of Kemper Arena, a KC sports complex, and while there was a set of hills that weren’t exactly the most fun, they weren’t steep and they were well lit, so I was kept distracted. The turn-around came at the end of an alley, which made for some bottlenecking and “cheating” I guess you could call it – I saw a bunch of people hopping over the cones to reverse direction early, rather than getting caught up in the big crowd at the actual turn around. Having no point of comparison, I’m not sure how ‘normal’ this is, but I definitely saw it happening!

Mark and I finished in 35:00 minutes and my parents, rock stars that they are, actually finished just before us in just over 30:00 minutes. This is the part where I’m going to get all emotionally gooey, so brace yourself: I’ve never felt something cooler than crossing this finish line, hand-in-hand with my husband, seeing my parents there smiling and sweaty, and I knew that I’d made the right choice to run slow and wait for my family and just take this in more as an experience than anything…there will always be more races. That I can guarantee you, especially now that the first one went so amazingly. But there won’t always be another race that my entire family decides to run with me (especially one that starts at 9:00 which, for those that know my early-bird momma, is quite a feat in and of itself). So all in all – the race was a SMASHING success and I can’t wait to run my next one!!!

No final pictures of sweaty Mark because he just wasn’t having it. But there the rest of us are, in all our sweaty, glow-y glory! We hung around the post-race party just long enough to have a beer and look longingly at the mini funnel-cakes, and then it was off to home and to bed!

What’d you guys tackle this weekend? Any major new developments?

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